DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention. The base claim makes clear the slit extends through the club head to the hollow portion. The slit would no longer be present if covered with a cover.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-9, 11, and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Onuki et al. (2019/0262669). Claim 1, Onuki discloses a hollow golf club head (abstract) comprising a face portion, and a main body portion including a crown portion and a sole portion both extending backwardly of the head from the face portion, wherein the main body portion is provided with a slit penetrating through the main body portion to the hollow, and a surrounding area of the slit is at least partially provided with a thick portion (fig 8, 36). The slit is arranged so that at least part of the slit is visible in a front view of the golf club head under its reference state, where the reference state is such that the head is placed on a horizontal plane at a lie angle and a loft angle specified for the head, while keeping a shaft axis center line of the head on a reference vertical plane (fig 2). Claim 2, the thick portion surrounds the slit (fig 8, 36). Claim 4, the slit is located on the crown and/or sole (fig 14). Claim 6, the slit is provided in the crown portion, and the slit is disposed in one of, or alternatively, each of a region on a toe side and a region on a heel side of a central region of the crown portion, wherein the central region is defined as extending 15 mm toward a toe of the head and toward a heel of the head from a straight line drawn parallel to a front-rear direction of the head passing through a face center in the top view of the head under its reference state (fig 14). Claim 7, the slit is provided in the sole portion, and the slit is disposed in one of a central region, a region on a toe side of the central region and a region on a heel side of the central region, wherein the central region is defined as extending 15 mm toward a toe of the head and toward a heel of the head from a straight line drawn parallel to a front-rear direction of the head passing through a face center in the bottom view of the head under its reference state (fig 14). Claim 8, Onuki discloses a hollow golf club head (abstract) comprising a face portion; and a main body portion, the main body portion including a crown portion and a sole portion both extending backwardly of the head from the face portion, wherein the main body portion is provided with a slit penetrating the main body portion to the hollow (fig 8, 36), and a surrounding area of the slit is at least partially provided with a thick portion, wherein the thick portion includes an inside thick portion protruding toward the hollow, and the inside thick portion extends into the back surface of the face portion (fig 8, 36). Claim 9, the thick portion surrounds the slit (fig 8, 36). Claim 11, the slit is located on the crown and/or sole (fig 14). Claim 13, the slit is provided in the crown portion, and the slit is disposed in one of, or alternatively, each of a region on a toe side and a region on a heel side of a central region of the crown portion, wherein the central region is defined as extending 15 mm toward a toe of the head and toward a heel of the head from a straight line drawn parallel to a front-rear direction of the head passing through a face center in the top view of the head under its reference state (fig 14). Claim 14, the slit is provided in the sole portion, and the slit is disposed in one of a central region, a region on a toe side of the central region and a region on a heel side of the central region, wherein the central region is defined as extending 15 mm toward a toe of the head and toward a heel of the head from a straight line drawn parallel to a front-rear direction of the head passing through a face center in the bottom view of the head under its reference state (fig 14).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/RAEANN GORDEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3711
June 25, 2026
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